UKC

The Roaches Footpath Project has been shortlisted for an award of 30,000 euros which will be decided by public vote.

You can vote at -

http://www.outdoorconservation.eu/project-voting-category.cfm?catid=1

It is anonymous, you don't need to leave your details to vote.

In reply to StaffsAndy:

Is there any detail about what's proposed?

In reply to StaffsAndy:

Much though I like the Roaches I think I'll vote for one of the other causes

In reply to Bulls Crack:


Exactly what I thought.

In reply to JDal:

I like the Roaches. When I was there a couple of weeks ago, I thought the repairs they've done so far are over-engineered and unsightly, worse than the erosion they're meant to be fixing.

In reply to StaffsAndy:

Red Pandas are on that list and you want us to vote roaches?!

In reply to StaffsAndy:

It does seem an odd fit with the rest of the projects, and I like the Roaches!

suspect having a strong membership base will help get the clicks. I belong to a different Trust and have already been e-mailed asking me to support this.

In reply to Simon Caldwell:

I think this is a common perception of all path repair projects - they always look very harsh and new and need time to bed into the landscape. Having said that, I haven't seen the work at the Roaches

In reply to toad:

I may be being unduly harsh of course, the antics of Fix the Fells give path restoration a bad name

In reply to toad:

If it's anything like the horror shows in the rest of the Peak, it will leave a scar that will last for decades. although I belive most of that is down to Derbyshire Council, and hopefully the folk in Staffs are a little better at this sort of thing

In reply to Simon Caldwell:


You think so? In what way?

In reply to Simon Caldwell:

Really? You prefer the unsightly 50' wide scar that the path has become in places between the summit and Roach End to the path of slabs leading up from Roach End that has, over the last few years, faded into the landscape and allowed the surrounding heather to recover?

In reply to Le Chevalier:
Well put M'sieur.

In reply to Le Chevalier Mal Fet:

I was talking about the section from the road to the Willans Hut. The patch has been widened and is much more of an eyesore than it was before.

In reply to Bulls Crack:


http://forum.fellrunner.org.uk/showthread.php?21613-Fixing-or-ruining-fells

In reply to Simon Caldwell:


I think they're still working on it, aren't they? So it will likely look worse for a while; let's see what it look like a year hence.

In reply to Coel Hellier: My main concern is that they're using a non-local (i.e. not gritstone) gravel for the paths and how this will fade in.

Maybe it'll look ok in a year's time but I have my doubts.

In reply to Simon Caldwell:


The poster does not seem to see the irony in that their complaint is about tackling the problem he's helped to cause

In reply to Bulls Crack:

The complain is that they're not tackling the erosion problem, they're trying to be "proactive" and "fixing" paths that aren't eroded, to prevent them become so in future. It's become quite common to construct paths where the current route is still on grass. It's also quite common for new paths to quickly form by the side of the "repaired" ones, due to the new ones being badly built (sloping rocks that are slippery when wet or icy, or steps that are spaced to suit the unfit). The response to this seems to be construct massive tracks with big drainage ditches on either side (Sail is the most infamous of these, but much of the Kentmere Round has suffered the same fate), more suited to off-roaders than walkers.

In reply to Simon Caldwell:

I went and had a look on Sunday and I was pleasantly surprised given comments like yours. The path is no wider than it was and most of the steps have been removed, giving a more graded path that less likely to encourage braiding as people walk round steps too awkward for them. Yes, it's built from ballast and the surface looks a bit fresh but it's certainly no more unsightly than the eroded bare earth there before.

I share your distaste for over-enthusiastic path-building projects and I have some misgivings about how they might manage the proposed improvements to that they are calling the ridge path, but what's been done so far looks OK to me.

There is also a proposal to improve the path through the muddy parts of Back Forest (by which I think they mean the path coming up beside the Dane from Danebridge) with duck boards. I don't have a problem with this either. Done properly it protects the ground and plants beneath and prevents the whole area being turned into a quagmire.

In reply to Dave Garnett:

I did say I might have been over-harsh! My memory of what was there before is different from yours, but since you've been there more often/recently than me I expect you're right

In reply to Simon Caldwell:

All the work so far have been given consent form Natural England who will look at the impact on the surrounding SSSI areas. They are arguably artificial in feel but what's the viable alternative?